Entrepreneur of the Year 2005

Accountants, Ernst & Young, are looking for successful businessmen and women to compete for the title 'Entrepreneur of the Year 2005'.

The winner of the award, sponsored by The Times, the London Stock Exchange and Coutts Bank, will join a network of past winners including Charles Dunstone, the founder of Carphone Warehouse, Europe’s biggest mobile phone retailer, and Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys Technologies, the Indian software firm.

Winners have been selected from all parts of the world and all business sectors. Entrants have ranged from family firms and traditional manufacturers to state-of-the-art, technology-based operations.

Most took great risks, leaving behind secure jobs or putting their homes on the line to follow their business opportunities.

Bill Gammell, founder of Cairn Energy, the Scottish oil exploration company and holder of last year’s title, has this advice for entrepreneurs: "Double what you are told are the risks and halve the upside."

Competitors in the scheme must be owner-managers primarily responsible for the recent performance of a privately held business that is at least two years old; or founders of a quoted company that is at least two years old, who are still active in its management; or social entrepreneurs.